Storage and dispensing package for stacked sheet material

ABSTRACT

Sheet material stacked in groupings, each with two protective sheet-like covers above and below each piece of sheet material and having lesser friction therebetween than with the sheet material, readily dispenses by sliding a single grouping from the stack. A package for storing and dispensing stacked sheet material has a sleeve-type container slidably receiving a tray that carries the sheet material in a recess having walls conforming to the peripheral edges of the sheet material. A loading member overlies the sheet material on the tray and has a void therethrough aligned under an opening in the container top panel through which individual sheets are urged forward out of the tray recess for dispensing through an opening in the sleeve container.

United States Patent [151 3,666,140 Brefka et al. 51 May 30, 1972 1 STORAGE AND DISPENSING PACKAGE 1,131,112 3/1915 Brown ..221/259 x FOR STACKED SHEET MATERIAL [72] Inventors: Paul E. Brefka, Southboro; Peter A.

Latham, Newburyport, both of Mass. [73] Assignee: Millipore Corporation, Bedford, Mass. [22] Filed: July 6, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 52,473

[52] U.S. Cl ..221/46, 206/57, 221/259, 312/61 [5 1] Int. Cl ..B65h 3/02 [58] Field ofSearch ..133/6; 206/57; 221/33-63, 198, 210, 246, 259, 305; 312/61, 50

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,372,837 3/1968 Neumann ..221/34 3,265,242 8/1966 Davis ..221/48 X 231,863 8/1880 Strattan ..133/6 X 3,300,085 1/1967 Simor ..221/41 Primary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant ExaminerThomas E. Kocovsky Attorney-Kenway, Jenney & Hildreth 57 ABSTRACT Sheet material stacked in groupings, each with two protective sheet-like covers above and below each piece of sheet material and having lesser friction therebetween than with the sheet material, readily dispenses by sliding a single grouping from the stack.

A package for storing and dispensing stacked sheet material has a sleeve-type container slidably receiving a tray that carries the sheet material in a recess having walls conforming to the peripheral edges of the sheet material. A loading member overlies the sheet material on the tray and has a void therethrough aligned under an opening in the container top panel through which individual sheets are urged forward out of the tray recess for dispensing through an opening in the sleeve container.

13 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAYB I972 3.666140 sum 1 0r 2 FIG. 3

. u "4 1 E I. In J x L INVENTOR PAUL E. BREFKA BY PETER A. LATHAM ATTORNEYS PATENTEDHAY I912 3,666,140

SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTORS PAUL E. BREFKA PETER A. LATHAM ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND This invention relates to a package for storing and dispensing sheet material, particularly a stack of individual and separate precut sheets or groupings thereof.

It is often required that sheet material be available on an individual sheet basis and with each sheet clean and undamaged, particularly along the peripheral edges. However, conventional sheet dispensing packages, especially those in which the sheets can be carried about or stored on edge, often expose at least the outer sheets and the peripheral edges to damage, soiling and like abuse. Also, sheets readily spill out of some prior packages. Such prior packages are singularly unacceptable for storing sheet material, such as high quality filters, that must be free of contamination and damage.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a package for storing and dispensing sheet material and which provides improved protection of the sheet material from spillage, damage and soiling.

Another object of the invention is to provide a package of the above character from which individual sheets or groupings thereof can be dispensed with relative ease.

A further object of the invention is to provide a storage and dispensing package of the above character from which the sheet material is dispensed without opening the package in a manner that exposes the remaining undispensed sheet material to damage or contamination.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a package for storing and dispensing stacked precut sheet material and which provides secure storage when disposed with the sheets on edge and when carried from place to place.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A package according to the invention has a sleeve-type container that slidably receives a tray through an open front end. The tray has a recessed central platform that carries a stack of sheets with their peripheral contours fitting closely within the upstanding walls of the recess.

A loading plate seats in the recess overlying the stack of sheets under the container top panel. The plate has a void therethrough under an opening in the container top panel.

The uppermost sheet is dispensed from the package through the open front end by engaging the sheet through the aligned top panel opening and loading plate void and urging the sheet forward out of the tray recess. The recess-forming wall adjacent the open front end of the container is slanted to provide a ramp action for lifting this sheet upward out of the recess, from where it passes above the tray and beneath the loading plate and container top panel out of the package.

For increased assurance that no sheets inadvertently slide out of the package, particularly when the package is first filled, a removable barrier card is fitted onto the tray along the side thereof adjacent the open container front end. The barrier card has tabs that extend above the edge of the loading plate and further tabs that protrude into the tray recess between the slanted front recess wall and the stack of sheets. The two sets of tabs thus prevent the loading plate and the stacked sheets from sliding forward relative to each other, so that neither can slide out from the package.

The invention further provides a storage and dispensing package of stacked sheets wherein two protective sheet-like covers are interleaved between each set of one or more sheets. The covers, typically of smooth paper, have less friction between them than with the sheets. This arrangement enables each grouping of a set of sheets and the two covers above and below it to be slid laterally ofi the stack for dispensing as a unit. The sheets and covers have peripheral edges that coincide at least at several points about the sheet periphery. Edge supports of the package at these points of peripheral coincidence maintain the composite stack ordered for reliable dispensing and, further, safeguard the sheets from edge damage.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention is indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a filter package according to the invention and showing a filter sheet being dispensed therefrom;

FIG. 2 shows the filter package of FIG. 1 partly exploded and partly in phantom; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational cross-section of the filter package of FIG. 1 taken along line 3-3 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a filter package 10 with a stack 12 of precut separate filter sheets 14 seated on a tray 16 that is slidably nested in a sleeve container 18. A sliding cover 20 carried on the container top panel 22 is in an open position exposing the uppermost filter sheet of the stack through an access opening 24 in the panel 22. The user engages this uppermost filter sheet through the opening, typically with a forward stroking motion of his finger in the direction of arrow 26, to move the sheet forward and out of the package to the position shown. From there, the filter sheet is simply pulled the rest of the way out of the container. Thereafter, unless additional filter sheets are to be dispensed, the cover 20 is slid forward, to close the access opening 24 and shut dirt from the rest of the filter sheets.

The package 10 thus completely encloses the stack of filter sheets both during storage, including transportation, and during the dispensing of sheets from the stack. Only the sliding cover 20 is opened for dispensing a sheet; there is no need to withdraw the tray from the container 18 or otherwise to open the package 10. The package 10 thus provides utmost protection of the stored filter sheets from physical abuse and from exposure to dirt or other contamination.

Each illustrated sheet 14 is in a grouping 13 of the sheet 14 with a protective sheet-like cover 15 above it and a like cover 15 below it. The three-piece group is dispensed as a unit. With this illustrated packaging of the filter sheets 14, the sheet itself remains untouched both when it is urged out of the package 10 through the access opening 24 and when the forward portion thereof is grasped after it is urged out of the container. These precautions are desired for the illustrated filter sheets, for they are used in the preparation of contamination-free filtrates. Further, they are fragile, and the covers provide mechanical support. A further advantage of using the protective covers 15 is that they are selected to slide readily over one another. Thus, even when the filter sheets 1414 are of such a nature that they might tend to stick together, with the illustrated sandwich" packaging they tend to stick only to the intervening protective covers 15. As a result, a single grouping 13 is dispensed with ease and with essentially no likelihood that additional filter sheets will inadvertently dispense with the single uppermost one. By way of illustration, the covers 15 can be of smooth paper; glossine is a preferred form. The illustrated covers 15 are identical in peripheral contour to the sheets 14, so that edge supports of the stack can bear directly against the sheets about their peripheral edges.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the top panel 22 of the sleeve container 18 is spaced above a bottom panel 28. Container side walls 30, 32, and 34 interconnect the panels 22 and 28 along the back and sides of the container 18. The container has a frontal opening 36 along the front side through which the container receives the tray 16 and through which the sheets are dispensed.

The top panel access opening 24 is an elongated slot with rail-forming straight sides extending along the direction of arrow 26. The sliding cover 20 spans the full length of this opening 24 when in closed position. The cover 20 has two pairs of depending locking guides 40, and each pair engages one rail-forming side of the cover 20 and for securing it to the container top panel. The illustrated guides have barbed ends that engage the underside of the container panel 22 to provide the sliding fastening.

The tray 16, shown in FIG. 2 and which fits snugly within the container 18, has a sheet-carrying platform 42 and sheetrestraining walls 44 extending upward from the platform edges along a path contoured identically to the peripheral edges of the sheets 14l4. This arrangement of the tray platform and walls forms a recess that seats the stack of sheets with the walls 44 maintaining the sheets in the stacked configuration. The restraining walls 44 extend upward from the platform 42 essentially perpendicularly along the back half of the platform 42. However, the wall portion 44a along the front of the platform is slanted so that the angle between the platform 42 and this wall portion, as seen in the sectional view of FIG. 3, is an obtuse angle. In the illustrated package, this angle is 125, i.e. at the tray front the wall portion is slanted forward 35 relative to vertical. This outward slant of the frontal wall portion 44a provides a ramp for lifting the frontal edge of the uppermost sheet 14 of the stack 12 out of the tray recess when it is urged forward for dispensing.

The tray 16 also has a notch 46 in the wall 44 along each side of the platform 42. These notches receive tabs 4848 that protrude outward from a sheet-loading plate 50. More particularly, the plate 50 has an annular section 52 that rests on the sheet stack adjacent the periphery of the sheets and from which the tabs 48 extend. The periphery of the illustrated annular section 52 conforms to the path of the walls 44 so that as the plate slides up and down relative to the tray walls 44, with the tabs 48 engaged in the notches 46, the plate is maintained centered on the sheet stack.

With this arrangement, the plate 50 maintains the sheets flat, particularly it prevents curling, buckling and wrinkling. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, the container top panel 22 bears down on the plate 50 when it tends to ride up out of the tray recess. By thus maintaining the plate in the tray recess, the plate 50 in turn holds the sheets down in the recess and thereby precludes them from sliding out of it except when they are urged forward for dispensing.

As further shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the loading plate 50 has a void or opening 54 therethrough. The illustrated opening is centered under the container top panel access opening and preferably is large enough to provide clearance space, shown in FIG. 3, between the container top panel 22 and the uppermost sheet and in which the locking guides 40 on the sliding cover 20 can move without engaging the stacked sheets. As shown in FIG. 1, the alignment of the plate opening 54 with the container access opening 24 exposes the uppermost sheet, when the container sliding cover 20 is open, for engaging the top sheet to dispense it.

The package is filled with sheets by withdrawing the tray 16 from the container 18; finger wells 56 along the front edge of the tray 16 facilitate withdrawing the tray from the container. With the tray removed from the container, the sheets are placed on the tray platform 42, and the loading plate 50 placed over the stack with the plate tabs 48 seated in the tray notches 46. After the package is assembled by replacing the tray into the container, the package is ready for use.

Where the loaded package is to be transported or stored or the like before sheets are to be dispensed from it, a barrier card 58 preferably is fitted onto the tray at the front end thereof before the tray is fully inserted into the container 18. The barrier card, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and removed prior to dispensing sheets from the package 10, in effect locks the stacked sheets to the loading plate along the front of the package 10 so that no sheets can slide out of the frontal opening 36 even when the package is disposed on edge with the front side downward. For this purpose, the barrier card has a backbone section 60 that extends along the front edge of the package between the tray 16 and the container top panel. A row of tabs 62 protrudes into the interior of the package from the backbone section along a path conforming to the peripheral edge of the sheets 14 and intervening, preferably perpendicular to the tray platform 42, between the sloped frontal tray wall portion 44a and the foremost edges of the stacked sheets. Further tabs 64 protrude inward from the barrier card backbone section and extend over the frontal edge of the loading plate 50, beneath the container top panel 22. The tabs 62 and 64 thus project into the container above and in front of the stacked sheets and loading plate 50 to prevent either sheets or the plate from sliding forward relative to the other and hence out of the package.

it will also be seen that the barrier card tabs 62 provide a peripheral support wall for the front of the sheet stack. The illustrated barrier card 58 has a handle strip 66 extending from the frontal edge of the backbone section 60. When the package 10 is delivered to the site where the contents are to be used, the barrier card is removed simply by grasping the handle strip 66 and withdrawing the card forward, along the direction of FIG. 1 arrow 26, out of the container 18. A shrink wrap over the entire package, or merely a tape across the container frontal opening 36 preferably is initially provided to prevent accidental dislodgment of the barrier card during initial transport and storage of the package.

The package 10, although likely to appear of relatively complex design when compared with prior storing and dispensing packages, can be constructed at a low cost, particularly in terms of the high degree of protection it affords the contents. The container 18 typically is made of paperboard, preferably from a single sheet. The sliding cover can be injection molded of polypropylene or like synthetic plastic material, and the tray 16 vacuum formed of styrene or like sheet. The plate 50 and the barrier card 58 can each be of paperboard.

It has been found that for at least most kinds of sheet material, the container 18 access opening 24 is preferably located centrally between the side walls 32 and 34 and roughly one quarter of the distance from the frontal opening 36 toward the container back wall 30. The loading plate opening 54 is correspondingly located below this access opening. This forward location of the point at which the sheets are urged forward from the tray recess minimizes the likelihood of buckling the sheets, which may occur with some sheet materials when they are urged forward from a point further removed toward the backside 30 of the container 18.

The illustrated package construction with a sliding trapdoor cover for dispensing sheets can be replaced by one of several other arrangements. Thus, in one alternative form of the package 10, the access opening 24 is a narrow slot, and the cover 20 is omitted. in its stead, a dispenser is provided in the form of a pressure pad disposed within the container resting on the stack and movable in the direction of arrow 26 back and forth within the confines of the loading plate opening 54. The pad carries a handle protruding upward through the slotlike opening 24. A sheet or group thereof is dispensed by raising the pad up under the container top panel and moving it backward, by means of the handle, and then drawing the pad forward with a slight downward pressure to urge the top-most sheet grouping of the stack forward.

Another alternative construction is to provide a fingermanipulated dispensing roller.

It should further be noted that features of the present packaging invention can be applied to packages from which the lowermost group of sheets is dispensed from a stack thereof. in fact, the illustrated package 10 can be used inverted from the orientation shown.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efliciently attained. The invention provides a secure and sturdily protective package for stacked sheet materials in which the sheets are nested and maintained down within, by virtue of the loading plate 50, a recess that engages the sheets along a significant portion of their peripheral edges. The resulting storing support for the sheets protects them from injury and maintains them neatly stacked for reliable dispensing. The package provides for dispensing of sheets without exposing more than the single sheet being dispensed to the environment and in fact without in any way disturbing the remainder of the stacked sheets. Further, the invention provides a readily removable blocking mechanism for securing the sheets within the container up to the time of dispensing.

Since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than in a limiting sense.

it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A storage and dispensing package of sheet material comprising A. a platform member having a sheet-supporting platform surface and upstanding peripheral restraining means disposed about said surface for engaging peripheral edges of sheet material on said surface for restraining relative lateral movement thereof,

B. a stack of sheet material resting on said surface and having peripheral edges engaged in abutment with said restraining means, said stack consisting of stacked groupings of a first sheet intermediate a pair of second sheets and wherein the second sheets have a significantly lesser coefficient of friction one to the other than to said first sheets,

C. cover means engaged with said platform member and spanning between said upstanding restraining means over said sheet stack for normally constraining said sheets laterally within said restraining means,

D. means forming a sheet dispensing aperture laterally without said peripheral restraining means,

E. a sheet-loading member beneath said cover means lying contiguously on said stack of sheet material, and

F. means for providing engagement with an outermost sheet on the stack thereof and for urging it laterally out of said engagement with said restraining means, and laterally out from beneath said loading means, and through said dispensing aperture.

2. A storage and dispensing package for sheet material comprising A. a sleeve-type container having a top panel, a bottom panel and interconnecting side panels and having a dispensing opening into the interior thereof adjacent a forward edge of said top panel,

B. tray means slidably insertable into said container and for carrying the sheet material,

C. upstanding peripheral restraining means mounted on said tray means and arranged to engage peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray means for restraining movement thereof relative to said tray means in at least one lateral direction,

D. cover means spanning across said peripheral restraining means spaced above said surface with said loading member thereunder,

E. means forming a dispensing opening for dispensing sheet material from said package in the flat configuration thereof as in the stack thereof, and

F. means for providing engagement with sheet material supported on said surface for urging it laterally out from beneath said loading member and out of engagement with said restraining means and through said dispensing openmg.

3. A storage and dispensing package for sheet material comprising A. a sheet-carrying platform having upstanding sheetrestraining edge guides along a path conforming to the periphery of the sheet material,

B. a sheet-loading member overlying sheet material seated on said platform and having a sheet-exposing void section therethrough within said platform guides,

C. interlocking means restraining said loading-member from movement relative to said platform along a first lateral direction and engaged between said member and platform along lateral sides of said member spaced apart transverse to said first direction,

D. a cover member engageable with said platform spanning across said guides and depressing said loading member below said guides,

E. means forming an access opening through said cover member aligned with said void section of said loading member, and

F. a sheet dispensing opening through said cover member adjacent an edge thereof extending transverse to said first direction, and through which a sheet member can be urged to slide by engagement by way of said access openmg.

4. A package as defined in claim 3 A. in which said loading member freely rests on the thickness of sheet material on said platform and overlies at least the edges of the sheet material, and

B. in which said edge guides disposed proximal to said dispensing opening are slanted to provide ramp surfaces for lifting sheet material urged toward said dispensing opening over said guides.

5. A storage and dispensing package for fiat and stacked sheet material comprising A. platform means forming a sheet-supporting surface,

B. upstanding peripheral restraining means mounted with said platform means for engaging peripheral edges of sheet material supported on said surface and for restraining movement thereof relative to said platform means along a lateral direction,

C. a sheet-loading member overlying said platform means and freely movable toward said surface thereof within said restraining means, for overlying the sheet material supported on said platform means adjacent peripheral edges of the sheet material and for overlying within said package the item of sheet material being dispensed therefrom,

D. a sheet-loading member nestably fitting on said tray means within said restraining means and overlying the sheet material, and having an aperture therethrough,

E. means forming an access opening through said container top panel aligned with said aperture of said loading member carried on said container-inserted tray means,

F. said access opening and said loading-member aperture providing access to sheet material on said tray means within said container for urging the sheet material in a lateral forward direction out of engagement with said restraining means and out of said container at said dispensing opening, and

G. a barrier member removably fitting between said tray means and said container top panel adjacent said dispensing opening, said barrier member having first tab means for overlaying said loading member, and having second tab means for protruding between said restraining means and the peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray.

6. A package as defined in claim 5 A. in which said dispensing opening is disposed for the passage of sheet material therethrough from between said restraining means and said cover means, and

B. further comprising a barrier member l. removably fitting between said peripheral restraining means and said cover means adjacent said dispensing opening,

2. having first tab means for overlying said loading member, and

3. having second tab means for protruding between said restraining means and the peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said surface.

7. A package as defined in claim further comprising latching means for holding said loading member against movement relative to said platform means in the direction toward said dispensing opening.

8. A package as defined in claim 5 in which said restraining means forms a substantially continuous rim upstanding on said platform means for substantially the height between said surface and said cover means and along a path conforming essentially to the peripheral edge of the sheet material, so as to form with said platform means a recess for seating and encircling a stack of the sheet material.

9. A storage and dispensing package for sheet material having a first width, said package comprising A. a sleeve-type container having a top panel, a bottom panel and interconnecting side panels and having a dispensing opening into the interior thereof adjacent a forward edge of said top panel, said top and bottom panels and said dispensing opening being at least as wide as said first width,

B. tray means slidably insertable into said container and for carrying the sheet material with said width dimension thereof extending between said side panels of said tray means,

C. upstanding peripheral restraining means mounted on said tray means and arranged to engage peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray means for restraining movement thereof relative to said tray means in at least one lateral direction,

D. a sheet-loading member nestably fitting on said tray means within said restraining means and overlying the aura sheet material carried on said tray means and which is being urged out through said dispensing opening, and having an aperture therethrough,

E. means forming an access opening through said container top panel aligned with said aperture of said loading member carried on said container-inserted tray means, and

F. said access opening and said loading-member aperture providing access to sheet material on said tray means within said container for urging the sheet material to move in a lateral forward direction out of engagement with said restraining means and out of said container at said dispensing opening.

10. A package as defined in claim 9 further comprising A. a barrier member,

1. removably fitting between said tray means and said container top panel adjacent said dispensing opening,

2. having first tab means for overlying said loading member, and

3. having second tab means for protruding between said restraining means and the peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray.

11. A package as defined in claim 9 further comprising latching means carried on said tray means for holding said loading member against movement relative to said tray means in said forward direction.

12. A package as defined in claim 9 further comprising replaceable cover means for covering and alternatively uncovering said access opening in said container top panel.

dispensing opening extending upward relative to said platform with a slanting angle to provide a ramp for lifting sheet material, which is urged along said forward direction, upward above said restraining means. 

1. A storage and dispensing package of sheet material comprising A. a platform member having a sheet-supporting platform surface and upstanding peripheral restraining means disposed about said surface for engaging peripheral edges of sheet material on said surface for restraining relative lateral movement thereof, B. a stack of sheet material resting on said surface and having peripheral edges engaged in abutment with said restraining means, said stack consisting of stacked groupings of a first sheet intermediate a pair of second sheets and wherein the second sheets have a significantly lesser coefficient of friction one to the other than to said first sheets, C. cover means engaged with said platform member and spanning between said upstanding restraining means over said sheet stack for normally constraining said sheets laterally within said restraining means, D. means forming a sheet dispensing aperture laterally without said peripheral restraining means, E. a sheet-loading member beneath said cover means lying contiguously on said stack of sheet material, and F. means for providing engagement with an outermost sheet on the stack thereof and for urging it laterally out of said engagement with said restraining means, and laterally out from beneath said loading means, and through said dispensing aperture.
 2. having first tab means for overlying said loading member, and
 2. A storage and dispensing package for sheet material comprising A. a sleeve-type container having a top panel, a bottom panel and interconnecting side panels and having a dispensing opening into the interior thereof adjacent a forward edge of said top panel, B. tray means slidably insertable into said container and for carrying the sheet material, C. upstanding peripheral restraining means mounted on said tray means and arranged to engage peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray means for restraining movement thereof relative to said tray means in at least one lateral direction, D. cover means spanning across said peripheral restraining means spaced above said surface with said loading member thereunder, E. means forming a dispensing opening for dispensing sheet material from said package in the flat configuration thereof as in the stack thereof, and F. means for providing engagement with sheet material supported on said surface for urging it laterally out from beneath said loading member and out of engagement with said restraining means and through said dispensing opening.
 2. having first tab means for overlying said loading member, and
 3. having second tab means for protruding between said restraining means and the peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said surface.
 3. A storage and dispensing package for sheet material comprising A. a sheet-carrying platform having upstanding sheet-restraining edge guides along a path conforming to the periphery of the sheet material, B. a sheet-loading member overlying sheet material seated on said platform and having a sheet-exposing void section therethrough within said platform guides, C. interlocking means restraining said loading-member from movement relative to said platform along a first lateral direction and engaged between said member and platform along lateral sides of said member spaced apart transverse to said first direction, D. a cover member engageable with said platform spanning across said guides and depressing said loading member below said guides, E. means forming an access opening through said cover member aligned with said void section of said loading member, and F. a sheet dispensing opening through said cover member adjacent an edge thereof extending transverse to said first direction, and through which a sheet member can be urged to slide by engagement by way of said access opening.
 3. having second tab means for protruding between said restraining means and the peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray.
 4. A package as defined in claim 3 A. in which said loading member freely rests on the thickness of sheet material on said platform and overlies at least the edges of the sheet material, and B. in which said edge guides disposed proximal to said dispensing opening are slanted to provide ramp surfaces for lifting sheet material urged toward said dispensing opening over said guides.
 5. A storage and dispensing package for flat and stacked sheet material comprising A. platform means forming a sheet-supporting surface, B. upstanding peripheral restraining means mounted with said platform means for engaging peripheral edges of sheet material supported on said surface and for restraining movement thereof relative to said platform means along a lateral direction, C. a sheet-loading member overlying said platform means and freely movable toward said surface thereof within said restraining means, for overlying the sheet mAterial supported on said platform means adjacent peripheral edges of the sheet material and for overlying within said package the item of sheet material being dispensed therefrom, D. a sheet-loading member nestably fitting on said tray means within said restraining means and overlying the sheet material, and having an aperture therethrough, E. means forming an access opening through said container top panel aligned with said aperture of said loading member carried on said container-inserted tray means, F. said access opening and said loading-member aperture providing access to sheet material on said tray means within said container for urging the sheet material in a lateral forward direction out of engagement with said restraining means and out of said container at said dispensing opening, and G. a barrier member removably fitting between said tray means and said container top panel adjacent said dispensing opening, said barrier member having first tab means for overlaying said loading member, and having second tab means for protruding between said restraining means and the peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray.
 6. A package as defined in claim 5 A. in which said dispensing opening is disposed for the passage of sheet material therethrough from between said restraining means and said cover means, and B. further comprising a barrier member
 7. A package as defined in claim 5 further comprising latching means for holding said loading member against movement relative to said platform means in the direction toward said dispensing opening.
 8. A package as defined in claim 5 in which said restraining means forms a substantially continuous rim upstanding on said platform means for substantially the height between said surface and said cover means and along a path conforming essentially to the peripheral edge of the sheet material, so as to form with said platform means a recess for seating and encircling a stack of the sheet material.
 9. A storage and dispensing package for sheet material having a first width, said package comprising A. a sleeve-type container having a top panel, a bottom panel and interconnecting side panels and having a dispensing opening into the interior thereof adjacent a forward edge of said top panel, said top and bottom panels and said dispensing opening being at least as wide as said first width, B. tray means slidably insertable into said container and for carrying the sheet material with said width dimension thereof extending between said side panels of said tray means, C. upstanding peripheral restraining means mounted on said tray means and arranged to engage peripheral edges of the sheet material carried on said tray means for restraining movement thereof relative to said tray means in at least one lateral direction, D. a sheet-loading member nestably fitting on said tray means within said restraining means and overlying the sheet material carried on said tray means and which is being urged out through said dispensing opening, and having an aperture therethrough, E. means forming an access opening through said container top panel aligned with said aperture of said loading member carried on said container-inserted tray means, and F. said access opening and said loading-member aperture providing access to sheet material on said tray means within said container for urging the sheet material to move in a lateral forward direction out of engagement with said restraining means and out of said container at said dispensing opening.
 10. A package as defined in claim 9 further comprising A. a barrier member,
 11. A package as defined in claim 9 further comprising latching means carried on said tray means for holding said loading member against movement relative to said tray means in said forward direction.
 12. A package as defined in claim 9 further comprising replaceable cover means for covering and alternatively uncovering said access opening in said container top panel.
 13. A package as defined in claim 9 in which A. said tray means has a platform on which the sheet material seats, and B. said restraining means are disposed about the periphery of said platform with said restraining means adjacent said dispensing opening extending upward relative to said platform with a slanting angle to provide a ramp for lifting sheet material, which is urged along said forward direction, upward above said restraining means. 